European Commission Working Groups

CPC (CIVIL PROTECTION COMMITTEE)
Committee supported by the European Commission on the issues of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. The CPC refers to the decisions of the PROCIV working group to elaborate and codify their implementation by the Member States, after being discussed in the summits. Thematic meetings under the CPC are meetings of the civil protection administrators, training coordinators, disaster reduction specialists, RescEU experts and others.

PROCIV (WORKING PARTY ON CIVIL PROTECTION)
Advisory Council working group on policy issues. Its conclusions are forwarded to the summits for decision-making. The issues of the working group concern the protection of the population, the environment, infrastructure and cultural heritage, in times of natural or man-made disasters, within or outside the EU. Prevention and preparation are parameters on which particular importance is placed today.

Meetings of Civil Protection Commanders
Meetings of governors, bi-annually, are organized by the Member State holding the Presidency of the Council every six months, with the support of the EU Commission. In these meetings, which are informal, directors general inform each other of developments in the field of civil protection and exchange opinions on the challenges being addressed. Finally, ideas are being put forward in order to further strengthen the protection of European citizens.

EXPERT GROUP FOR DISASTER REDUCTION
Commission Working Group on disaster risk reduction. Its scope is to define procedures for the assessment, mapping and overall risk management of EU Member States and of countries participating in the EU Civil Protection Mechanism

Programmes and Training

TRAINING OF THE MECHANISM OF CIVIL PROTECTION
Assessment Mission Course (AMC)- This is one of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism training programmes, held in Cyprus 4 times a year, that was awarded to the Cyprus Civil Defence after a competitive process in cooperation with the THW German Federal Agency for Technical Relief, the civil protection agency of Bulgaria and the Johanniter International Assistance organization, with the participation of the United Nations ACAPS organization. The popularity of the programme can be explained by the fact that instead of using actors for training, public and other officials themselves are involved, who will be mobilized in the event of an earthquake in Cyprus in order to assess the needs for European assistance. The programme is already in its 17th cycle.

LEAPFROG
Is under the Civil Protection Mechanism, dealing with capacity building. It is concerned with the creation of modules for drones (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles).
The Cyprus Civil Defence, in collaboration with the KIOS Research Center of the University of Cyprus, has acquired a small fleet of drones equipped with both simple and thermal cameras.

SWIFTERS programme
EU Civil Protection Mechanism programme, which optimizes communication between UAVs (drones) in flight.

Civil Protection Mechanism MODULES training
The Cyprus Civil Defence participates in the planning and execution of modules of the EU Civil Protection Facility. Modules include firefighting, water pumping, infrastructure support (e.g bridges and buildings), emergency medical transport and care, search and rescue, communications etc.

INTERREG GREECE-CYPRUS 2014-2020
AIGIS project, aimed at enhancing the competence and administrative capacity of the relevant civil protection authorities of the regions of Greece (North Aegean Region) and Cyprus participating, for responding to natural and manmade disasters through pilot planning and developing a cross-border integrated innovative intelligent resource management, decision-making and training system.

BeSafeNet Programme of the Council of Europe EUR-OPA MAJOR HAZARDS AGREEMENT
Cyprus operates the BeSafeNet Center, which aims to develop and maintain an online information platform for the development of protection and self-protection education on natural and technological disasters, especially for young people and children.
In 2019 the first Olympiad was held successfully, for the ages to which the project refers. The second Olympiad will take place in 2020.

OLDER EUROPEAN PROGRAMMES
The main programmes have covered the protection of cultural heritage in times of disaster, the creation of a small fleet of drones, the development of disaster management software, the optimum emergency housing for disaster-affected populations, and more.